Power Costs Lift Canadian Inflation

Updated Sept. 23, 2002 12:01 a.m. ET

A surge in electricity prices helped spark an increase in inflation in August, sending both the headline and core consumer-price measures in Canada to higher-than-expected levels, analysts said Friday. While much of the inflation results can be attributed to temporary increases in electricity, gasoline, cigarette prices and vehicle insurance premiums, there is some evidence of broadly based inflationary pressure, analysts said. But part of the jump in core inflation reflects a 6.8% surge in electricity prices stemming from market deregulation in Ontario and that suggests the August figures should be approached with...